Cavenaugh, Sheik, Doyle et al. Set for 'Rated RSO' at Joe's Pub, 1/25

On Monday, January 25, multi award-winning composer and lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver brings his buzzed-about concert RATED RSO: The Music & Lyrics of Ryan Scott Oliver back to Joe's Pub for two final performances at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Helmed by director Travis Greisler, RATED RSO features an eclectic range of songs from RSO's musicals Mrs. Sharp and Darling, as well as some all-new material from his latest show 35MM, all of which will transform the intimate nightspot into a haven for sexy schoolteachers, Bostonian rent-boys, obsessive homicidal teenagers and fairy dust. This final version of RATED RSO will be the biggest yet: two concerts; ten brand-new songs; and twenty-three incredible Broadway performers.

Just added to the cast of RATED RSO are Matt Cavenaugh (West Side Story, Grey Gardens), Jenny Powers (Grease, Little Women), Matt Doyle (Bye Bye Birdie, Spring Awakening), Stephen DeRosa (Hairspray, Into the Woods), Kacie Sheik (Hair), Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (A Little Night Music), Andrew Kober (Hair), Gerard Canonico (Spring Awakening), Blake Daniel (Spring Awakening), Cait Doyle (MAC Award Winner), Eric Michael Krop and Grace Wall. They join previously-announced featured cast members Alex Brightman (Wicked), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Hair), Morgan Karr (Spring Awakening), Lindsay Mendez (Grease, Everyday Rapture) and Natalie Weiss (Wicked). The ensemble is rounded out by Catherine Brookman, Mat Burrow, Jeff Cuttler, Jennifer DeRosa, Katie Gassert and Geoffrey Kidwell.

The band will be led by Musical Director Matt Hinkley and will be comprised of Eric Day (Bass), Allison Seidner (Cello), Brian Boyce (Drums), Rich Silverstein (Piano), Sharon Kenny (Keyboard) and Hinkley (Guitar).

Ryan Scott Oliver is a 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient and wrote the music and lyrics for Mrs. Sharp (2008 Richard Rodgers Award Winner, formerly Alive at Ten), Darling (Pace New Musicals 2009), the song cycle Out of My Head, music for Angus Oblong's The Debbies and music and co-lyrics for the hit YouTube TV show The Battery's Down. His work has been presented in showcases including the Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, Goodspeed Musicals, William Finn & Barrington Stages, The York Theatre, Monday Nights New Voices, the Festival of New American Musicals in Los Angeles, and most recently The Ryan Scott Oliver Project conceived by Philly Music Theatre Works. He is a Dramatists Guild Fellow, and the recipient of numerous awards including the first-ever ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award for Excellence in Lyric Writing. Currently he is working on an untitled show for TheatreworksUSA which will open off-Broadway in 2010. B.A. Music Composition, UCLA; M.F.A. Musical Theatre Writing, NYU-Tisch, a proud member of A.S.C.A.P.

RATED RSO has previously been seen at Joe's Pub, SPF, NYMF, and California's Boston Court Performing Arts Center. The show is being produced by jokr productions (Joey Oliva & Katie Riegel) and John Johnson.

Tickets for the concerts are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and are available now online at joespub.com or by clicking here. 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.